The Country Squire Tobacconist Pilgrim's Muse

The very tart and tangy citrusy, grassy, hay-like Virginias also sport a few drops of honey and a pinch of spice. They get fair competition from the floral, woody, earthy, dry, moderately spicy, rather sour Turkish. The nutty, earthy, woody, lightly molasses sweet burley is an important third lead varietal that occasionally rises to compete with the aforementioned components. The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian latakia is a background player. The strength and nic-hit are just past the center of mild to medium. The taste falls a hair short of the medium mark. Won’t bite or get harsh, but does have a small rough edge here and there. It burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a complex and nuanced mildly sweet and sour, savory, and at times, inconsistent taste from top to bottom. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasantly lingering after taste, and lightly stronger room note. Can be an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

Prep: Came perfect

Very similar to Holiday Mixture though smoother and with the addition of Turkish. The Virginias are grassy, citrusy, the Burley is evident with the nuttiness, and molasses, which gives this blend, like with HM, a winter, cozy feel. The Turkish is sour earthy and delivers a nice spice that is mostly evident in the retrohale. The Latakia is evident, though in the back seat, bringing a lingering smokiness. The description says this is great for the “Latakia lover”, however I am not sure on that as it doesn’t seem prominent enough. If you are new to American blends, don’t expect an English blend. It is mentioned that this is enjoyed best with experienced smokers and I do think that is the case, as it is a nuanced blend. 7.5/10

Video review from youtube channel: https://youtu.be/EPpx8POZreI

First Take: This is an excellent take on Scottish blends. It's not trying to be Mac Baren's Scottish Mixture, but it's hard not to make the comparison. I found this blend to be citrusy and spicy. It's a very well-rounded blend with perfect proportions and no roughness or sharpness anywhere. It could be more citrusy and tangy than Mac Baren. Didn't bite, and it didn't turn acrid when I puffed on it like a train.

This blend did not have the complexity and depth that I expected, however, I smoked it brand new. I am excited to age this blend for a couple of months and see how it develops.

2023-06-12 update: I now have a 6-month-old Bag End in this jar and 6 months of experience with TCS blends. With no exceptions that I’ve found, TCS blends like to be smoked on the hot side. However, this one also has flavor at the very low end, making it a perfect blend to play with temperature. I found that the citrus notes took a back seat after half a year in the jar, and I can only really pick it up in the aftertaste. The white pepper spiciness of this blend isn’t as pronounced as other blends, as I’ve found TCS blends to have a white pepper note that I haven’t found anywhere else. It’s still there and it is very well incorporated, which I like. I think this is easily becoming one of my favorite blends from them. Black Arrow, Green Dragon, then Bag End.

This one really stood out to me on my vigorous tour searching for perfect latakia tobacco blends. While the latakia is there, its not really apparent until I slow down and sip and savor the flavor this one has to offer. Although latakia is why I ordered it, I was not at all disappointed. This blend really showcased for me what latakia can do in the background, and it was the first to do that. You can still taste it, but the rest of the smoke is so creamy-smooth that you wouldn't want to drown it out. My tour didn't stop at Bag End, but definitely took a different route after the visit. I will certainly be back to the Shire in the future.

Very middle of the road smoke. The burley comes out with the nuttiness, and the Turkish added a bit of spice to it, maybe a little pepperiness like perique would normally provide. The latakia is extremely muted. This would be a fantastic corncob blend, and I have yet to try it in a churchwarden. There's nothing that stands out in particular to me, but it is quite pleasant to smoke.

This is the second Country Squire blend I decided to try and I'm glad I did. Their site lists it as a Scottish blend, TR has it as an American. Classification is not set in stone on some of this stuff, but with the use of the burley and Virginia I tend to think of it as an American and it fits in that part of my rotation. The blend smells good out of the bag and needed no dry time. It was easy to light and keep going. When I first started the smoke I could make out the characteristics of the components. The Virginia was mildly sweet, the Turkish gave me that sour soda like taste and the burley had the usual nutty taste. As the bowl progressed the individual flavors were hard to pick out, it had morphed into one tasty flavor. It burned clean to a fine ash and the room note was ok. Nobody's going to come in and think you were baking cookies, but they probably won't be overwhelmed by the smell. Overall a decent smoke that I will probably buy again.

With my expectations adjusted this just barely slides onto base for three stars.

First off, where's the Latakia? At least in the bag I received it is nearly imperceptible. So much for the description extolling its virtues as a blend "perfect for the Latakia lover." I also had the same reaction as Peterson314 who said "This blend did not have the complexity and depth that I expected."

The chunky broken flakes have an appearance similar to certain Mac Baren and Amphora tobaccos. Most of my first bowls did not provide a three star experience for me, but things improved when I tried it in a wide 1" bowl (an old pre-Lane Charatan pot). That allowed some of the missing complexity to emerge. Next I tried it in a 7/8" wide Vauen Luxus with 9mm filter and that was also pretty good, though the filter mellowed and softened the blend somewhat (especially on the retrohale), so it depends on what you're after. I also tried cube cutting with kindling on top but that didn't make much of a difference.

While the dominant character of the blend for me is the rather nondescript white Burley, I'd say the sweetness of the Virginia is the one saving grace. The Turkish does't add much top note but does provide a pleasing mid-palate presence with hints of sourdough and even grapefruit rind (others have mentioned a citrusy component but for me it is not a juicy citrus, more of a dried citrus rind taste). The Latakia is MIA,

Since three of the four ingredients don't really develop significantly or improve with age I don't think setting it aside in the cellar will help. But that's exactly what I'm going to do, just in case a miracle happens!

Even at its best, in a wide bowl, I have many other blends to choose from with more complexity, more Latakia, or both. And if I want a softer Scottish style blend I much prefer Wilke 436.

Honestly, I think before putting this blend in the press a pinch of stoved Virginia like Sutliff 507 would have bumped up the flavor and complexity a notch. But then the blend wouldn't be as subtle or understated if that really was the intention.